The Falling Rain
by MadisonMagnetic
Summary: As Karen Hayes clings desperately to the soaked skin beneath his suit, Bill Buchanan realizes something. Something that perhaps could change everything they stand for. Post Season 5.


They had neglected the warnings of the threatening thunder above them, and during their walk, had been caught in the middle of a downpour. Now they stood shivering, clinging desperately to each other and to the soaked suits sticking to their bodies, beneath the canopy over the doors of the hotel nearly half a mile away from her apartment.

Karen listened to the sounds of the falling rain against pavement with a frown on her face. Her eyes were closed and the side of her cheek was pressed against Bill's shoulder, as was her front, hoping to warm herself with what little body heat radiated from his drenched skin beneath the suit. At that moment, she was not aware of the hidden smile that was beginning to spread across his face, or of the unexplainable sensation that he was experiencing as her shaking body clung to him, needing him.

Somewhere in the distance, thunder rumbled and she felt his body tense, then relax.

"I'm sorry." He apologized, his lips pressed against her ear. "I hadn't planned on this."

She looked up at him, finding his passionate blue eyes beneath the dripping clumps of grey hair that stuck to his forehead. "Don't be." She mouthed.

"I just… I wanted this walk to ease your mind off of work and Homeland. It was supposed to be relaxing and-" He nodded to the rain past the canopy. "Scenic."

"It is." She said encouragingly, rotating slightly beneath his arms. "Just a different kind of scenic."

"But your new suit-"

"Bill, it's fine. Really. I'll just get in dry-cleaned in the morning. I have others, you know."

He opened his mouth to argue, but fell silent and turned his head to watch another less than fortunate couple hurry across the parking lot beneath an umbrella. The way they ran, with their arms interlocked at the elbow, mesmerized him.

It wasn't until last night, when he and Karen had collapsed onto her bed (with harmless intentions that had become a habit over the last few months, but had been forgotten when Karen fell into an exhausted slumber) that he became aware of an emotion that he had forgotten he was capable of. He had spent the whole night, watching her body rise and fall slightly with each breath, stroking the hair that had spread across his pillow, enjoying the scent of her soap and laundry detergent on the sheets.

And as they huddled beneath the canopy, listening together to the sounds of cars splashing through mud puddles, he was reminded of this feeling. This wonderful feeling that made his heart flutter and his knees go weak; that made his words turn to a lump in his throat and his breathing become labored. This feeling burned at the inside of his chest until he finally decided that he had spent enough time contemplating and sorting his thoughts. He had to tell her. He _needed_ to tell her.

"Karen." He whispered, bringing a hand to her rain-stained cheek and cupping it, running his fingers gently across its cold surface.

"Hmmm?"

"Are you listening to me?"

"Of course I am, Bill." She looked up at him with questioning but attentive eyes.

"I love you."

The words took a moment to sink into her drenched body. She didn't pull away from him, but she looked down, tears beginning to fill her eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Karen, I…" He fumbled desperately for the words that could explain how she made him feel, but no word was powerful enough. No word was meaningful enough. If only she could understand how even the mentioning of her name by a coworker made his heart beat so fast that it felt like it was drilling a hole through his chest. "I know we agreed to keep this to a friendship. And these… these nightly habits were simply to relieve stress but…" His hand slid slowly down her cheek and found her chin, gently raising it until her eyes met his. "I think I've fallen in love you."

Through her tears, there was an indication of a small smile. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her forehead against his. "I thought I was the only one that felt that way." She mumbled against his skin.

The falling rain seemed to soften slightly.


End file.
